Verse 2:282 of Surah Al-Baqarah, akin to a radiant gem among the Quranic verses, holds an unparalleled position due to the breadth of jurisprudential rulings and meticulous regulation of financial and social relationships. This verse, the longest in the Holy Quran, offers precise procedural and executive directives concerning financial transactions, especially debt and loans. In a primitive society lacking security, trust, and widespread literacy, this verse illuminated social and economic relations by emphasising documentation, testimony, and the observance of justice as a guiding beacon. In this exegesis, adopting a scientific and academic approach, an endeavour is made to provide comprehensive and systematic analyses that retain the integrity of the original content while proving beneficial to both religious scholars and academic audiences. This treatise, grounded in principles of subject-matter analysis and critique of traditional methodologies, examines the rulings of the verse and their alignment with contemporary conditions, enriching the literary depth of the text through refined allegories.
Verse 2:282 of Surah Al-Baqarah, due to its focus on the procedural aspects of transactionssuch as documentation, testimony, and equitable oversightis recognised as the most formal verse of this Surah. This verse, providing more than forty to fifty jurisprudential rulings, stands as one of the most prominent examples of the Ayat al-Ahkam (verses of rulings). Unlike other verses of the Surah, which predominantly concentrate on spiritual and eschatological concepts, this verse, with unparalleled precision, addresses the structure and framework of financial dealings and is thus considered the most jurisprudentially significant verse of Surah Al-Baqarah.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا تَدَايَنْتُمْ بِدَيْنٍ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى فَاكْتُبُوهُ ۚ وَلْيَكْتُبْ بَيْنَكُمْ كَاتِبٌ بِالْعَدْلِ
O you who have believed, when you contract a debt for a specified term, record it in writing; and let a scribe write between you with justice.
This verse pertains to debt-based transactions, whether loans, forward sales (Salaf trade), or unilateral credit. However, bilateral credit or cash transactions, due to their differing nature, are not directly subject to this verses provisions, although its general principles, such as the necessity of justice and documentation, are extendable to other transactions. This distinction demonstrates the Qurans meticulous regulation of rulings appropriate to diverse transactional circumstances.
Verse 2:282 of Surah Al-Baqarah, as a comprehensive blueprint for regulating financial relations, introduced an unparalleled order to a primitive society through emphasis on documentation, justice, and oversight. With its jurisprudential and formal characteristics, this verse holds an invaluable significance not only at the time of revelation but also when applied to contemporary conditions.
Verse 2:282 was revealed in a primitive society where insecurity, lack of trust, and illiteracy rendered conflict and disputes commonplace. Under such conditions, the injunctions of this versesuch as written recording of transactions and obtaining witnessesacted as a bridge from chaos towards order and justice. These rulings were designed to prevent financial disputes and protect individual rights, reflecting Divine wisdom in addressing the exigencies of the era.
Divine rulings, such as the concepts of permissible and forbidden, stand as fixed stars in the juridical firmament, enduring until the Day of Judgment. However, the subjects of these rulingssocial and cultural circumstanceschange like streams over time. This distinction is key to understanding the adaptation of the verses rulings to contemporary contexts. For example, a ruling decreed in a primitive society to preserve order may lose relevance in an advanced society equipped with modern tools.
Each ruling resembles a sapling rooted in the soil of its subject. As the subject changes, the context for the rulings implementation also transforms. For instance, rulings concerning tomb construction or statue making, restricted previously due to the risk of idolatry, lose their direct applicability in modern societies where such risk no longer exists and may be reconsidered.
In early Islam, raising a tombstone was prohibited due to the possibility of idol worship. However, in contemporary societies where idolatry risk is absent, this restriction has lost its subject relevance. Tomb construction to honour saints or martyrs, with sincere intention and based on societal custom, is permissible. Nonetheless, aggrandising graves of ordinary individuals without social backing is criticised as ostentation and cultural exploitation.
Historically, statue making was restricted due to the danger of idolatry. In modern societies, where statues and dolls serve solely decorative or educational purposes, this limitation no longer applies. The creation of human, animal, or plant figures as tools for education and art is allowed. However, in regions such as India, where idolatry persists, this practice remains prohibited for Muslims.
Although traditional idolatry has diminished in Islamic societies, the worship of desires, an invisible idol, still binds humanity in material and psychological attachments. This modern idolatry, referred to in the Holy Quran as "taking the desires as deities," demands vigilance and critique.
In the pre-Islamic era, some Arabs killed their daughters out of fear of harm or disgrace. This act, sometimes rooted in ignorance and other times in misguided affection, represents cultural backwardness harshly condemned by the Quran. Such behaviour, a stain on historys fabric, highlights the necessity for cultural reform.
Maintaining patients in vegetative states or under severe pain in intensive care units, due to exorbitant costs and futility, has been criticised. This constitutes a heavy societal burden requiring jurisprudential reconsideration and more humane decisions to alleviate the suffering of patients and their families.
Verse 2:282 of Surah Al-Baqarah, by offering rulings suited to the primitive conditions of its revelation, established order and justice in financial transactions. The distinction between fixed rulings and variable subjects allows adaptation of these rulings to modern circumstances. The critiques presented, ranging from tomb construction to medical treatments, underscore the imperative of scientific reassessment and the alignment of religion with contemporary needs.
The injunctions of verse 2:282, such as written documentation of transactions (فَاكْتُبُوهُ) and obtaining witnesses, were designed for a society limited in literacy and trust. These rulings functioned as a protective shield, preventing rights violations in transactions and imparting a just order to a turbulent community.
وَاسْتَشْهِدُوا شَهِيدَيْنِ مِنْ رِجَالِكُمْ ۖ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُونَا رَجُلَيْنِ فَرَجُلٌ وَامْرَأَتَانِ
And call to witness two witnesses from among your men. And if there are not two men available, then one man and two women.
This part of the verse addresses the testimony of two men or one man and two women. This ruling relates to the social limitations imposed on women in early Islam, such as limited experience and restricted public engagement. At that time, women participated less in transactions due to cultural conditions, and this ruling was established to compensate for such limitations.
In modern societies where women participate extensively in advanced sciences and professionsfrom neurosurgery to scientific researchthe ruling requiring two women in place of one man has lost its subject relevance. Women today, like stars in the sky of science and practice, possess the precision and orderliness necessary to testify and adjudicate in transactions. This indicates the necessity for reassessment of rulings based on changes in subjects.
Claims such as the superiority of mens intellect or the dominance of emotions in women are, like bubbles on water, devoid of scientific or scriptural support. Historical critiques reveal that many of these beliefs, within Abrahamic religions including Islam, Judaism, and Christianity